C Jake Dowell

Age: 26 (Born March 4, 1985)

Height/Weight: 6'0"/199 pounds

Shoots: Left-handed

The Stars went into free agency looking to add a lot of depth to their team, and with the addition of Jake Dowell with a one year, $800,000 contract. Dowell has played intermittently with the Chicago Blackhawks during his career and spent his first full year in the NHL during the 2010-2011 season.

In 79 games last season, he had 21 points (6 goals, 15 assists) while playing on the depth lines and his role with the Stars will be much of the same. Much like their previous forward signings of Vernon Fiddler and Radek Dvorak, Dowell is a good penalty-killer and a solid man to take face-offs. The Stars basically signed an entire penalty-killing line with those three signings as they try to shore up a penalty kill that was ranked 23 (out of 30) in the NHL last year.

Dowell also really likes to fight, as numerous videos on youtube will show. If nothing else, Steve Ott has a new buddy who will help him out in fights.

Here's Dowell wailing on former Star Brandon Segal. If Dallas re-signs Segal sometime in the future, will this be brought up?

And Dowell with another fight.

C Vernon Fiddler

Age: 31 (Born: May 9, 1980)

Height/Weight: 6'2"/195 pounds

Shoots: Left-handed

The Stars found themselves with another good two-way forward when they signed Vernon Fiddler to a 3-year $5.4 million contract. Fiddler has been in the NHL for eight years and guess what, he's a tough, in-your-face player. He kills penalties and is good on both sides of the ice. Fiddler will be a good mentor and example for Tomas Vincour as well as depth for Toby Peterson and Tom Wandell.

Last year, he played in 71 games and tallied 22 points (6 goals, 16 assists). For his career, he has played 452 games (59 goals and 86 assists for 145 points).

He'll be splitting time on the checking line with Wandell, Peterson and Vincour if he is not in the minors. He'll also be very valuable on the penalty-kill. 

He also has a lot of fight videos floating around youtube.

A goal off the face-off from Fiddler (He's a very good face-off guy, something this team sorely needs with Ott as the only other option)

His only hat-trick of his career

RW Radek Dvorak

Age: 34 (Born: March 9, 1977)

Height/Weight: 6-2/206 pounds

Shoots: Right-handed

The Dallas Stars signed 15-year veteran Radek Dvorak to a 1 year, $1.5 million deal during their signing spree yesterday.  Dvorak is a two-way forward and is known as a solid penalty-killer. 

He's played 1,118 games in his NHL career and has amassed 556 points (215 goals, 341 assists). During his career, as long as he gets some solid playing time, he will get you 10-15 goals. Like most of the draft picks and signees this year, Dvorak is a tough player. 

He'll serve as a placeholder before some of the Stars younger forwards make their way through the minors.

I expect him to be a late-line depth forward and an integral part of the penalty kill.

Dvorak highlights from 2008-2009 (It's not so great when your highlight video is only a minute long)

D Adam Pardy

Age: 27 (Born: March 29, 1984)

Height/Weight: 6-2/206 pounds

Shoots: Left-handed

I'll be honest, before the Stars signing him yesterday, I had no idea who Adam Pardy was. With Dallas losing three defensmen to free agency, they set out to find replacements and one of the first that they got was former Calgary Flame Adam Pardy for a two year, $4 million deal.

Pardy has played three seasons in the NHL, all with Calgary, and brings size and grit to the defense. He won't be mistaken for an offensive machine anytime soon, but he will provide a bit of offense every now and then. He's played 147 games in his NHL career and has a total of 26 points (4 goals, 22 assists). He will fill one of the roles as a third/fourth line defensemen.

During his one year in the ECHL, with the Las Vegas Wranglers, he played under current Stars coach Glen Gulutzan so there is some familiarity there. Gulutzan knows what he's getting from Pardy and he obviously feels that it's well worth the sort of headscratching $2 million per year deal. 

Don't expect a whole lot from him, but know that his role will most likely be similar to what Mark Fistric brings to the team.

A couple of videos of Pardy (he has a lot of fight videos on youtube, although he seems to lose a majority of them):

Pardy fighting Troy Bodie

Pardy getting a nice hit

With less than a day left before the NHL free agency begins, the Stars have made decisions on just about all of their restricted and unrestricted free agents. Here's a quick update on the status of those guys.

• Brad Richards UFA - He's already stated that he won't be back with the Stars. The rest of the league will be bidding for his talents when Friday finally rolls around. He's looking for a long term deal worth at least $7 million per year.  

• Jamie Langenbrunner UFA - Langenbrunner, who returned to Dallas this year in a trade with the New Jersey Devils, will be hitting the free agency market. There is still a possibility that he could return to the Stars, but Langenbrunner wants to test the market first. During his four months here, Langenbrunner played in 39 games and had 18 points (5 goals, 13 assists) while playing most of his time on the third and fourth lines.

• Brad Lukowich - Re-signed with the Stars on a one-year, two-way deal. He'll probably spend most of next season playing with the Texas Stars and helping to mentor the young defensemen there. 

• Travis Morin - Morin saw most of his time with the Texas Stars last year, but could have a bigger role next season after Dallas re-signed him to a two-year, two-way contract. 

• Colton Sceviour - Signed a one-year, two-way contract to stay with Dallas. Sceviour is a prime candidate to jump up to the big show after spending most of last year with the Texas Stars. He'll be looking for a spot along the third or fourth lines.

• Brandon Segal UFA - Segal did not receive an offer from the Stars so he will be hitting the free agent market. He split his time last year with the Texas Stars and the Dallas Stars but when he was with the big club, he played 46 games and had 10 points (5 goals, 5 assists). His spot will most likely be taken by a young player coming up from the minor league affiliates.

• Karlis Skrastins UFA - Skrastins had a solid year in 2010-2011, but it looks to be his last for the Stars. Dallas has not sent an offer over to him and it looks likely that he will be moving onto the KHL next season. He was one of the best shot blockers on the team and always willing to give up his body.

• Brian Sutherby UFA - As Dallas continues to rebuild the third and fourth lines, it looks like Sutherby will not be returning to the team. He has not received an offer and will be hitting free agency. He played in 51 games last year and had 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists).

• Jeff Woywitka UFA - Woywitka will also be a free agent when Friday arrives. He had a tough year in Dallas this past season playing as a second-line defensemen and there were many calls from fans to bench him in favor of Mark Fistric. He would function better as a third option, where his production would look more friendly. In 63 games last year, he had 11 points (2 goals, 9 assists).

• Jason Williams UFA - Williams will also be hitting the free agent market. Dallas signed him during the latter part of the season and he played in 27 games, where he had 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists). Like Segal and Sutherby, his spot will be handed over to a young talent from the minors.

We stand two days away from free agency (and the ensuing Brad Richards frenzy) and there's been a lot of movement around the league. There were a few moves that limit the Stars' options as well as a few moves that the Stars would be interested in. A quick update on the movement around the league.

• Dallas made a small move of their own, re-signing Brad Lukowich to a one-year, two-way deal. He'll provide solid experience and be a good mentor for the young defensemen playing for the Texas Stars.

• The Tampa Bay Lightning re-signed a couple of defensemen in the past couple of days. Eric Brewer (4 years, $15.4 million) and Marc-Andre Bergeron (2 year, $2 million). A couple of interesting names left for the Lightning include fowards Sean Bergenheim (UFA) and Steven Stamkos (RFA). Bergenheim looks likely to be leaving Tampa and seems to be looking for a contract worth about $1.5 million a year. Meanwhile, the Stamkos situation is an odd one. Tampa clearly wants him back but they have struggled on hammering out a deal. Whichever team, besides Tampa, that wants to sign Stamkos will have to give up four (four!) first-round picks as compensation. If Stamkos hits the market, I would expect some team to at least drive up the price for Tampa to re-sign him.

• The Canucks also made a couple of moves with their defensemen. They re-signed Kevin Bieksa (5 years, $23 million) and sent Christian Ehrhoff (or at least his free-agency rights) to the New York Islanders for a fourth-round pick after he rejected a contract offer from the Canucks. Ehrhoff would have surely been the number one defensemen on the market in a very weak class. 

• The Washington Capitals re-signed Brooks Laich (6 years, $27 million). Laich would have drawn offers from a lot of teams and might have been the second-most sought after forward after Brad Richards.

• Pittsburgh seems to be hoping for a blast from the past as they have offered a contract to Jaromir Jagr (reportedly for 1 year, $2 million). Jagr has spent the past three seasons in the KHL, averaging around 22 goals, 28 assists and 48 points per season. They also re-signed Pascal Dupuis (2 years, $3 million).

We now stand four days away till free agency 2011, the year when Brad Richards leaves the Stars. Richards, for his part, seems to not be worried at all about his situation (and why should he?). His latest tweet, sent yesterday:

Off to the toughest course on earth tomorrow with @VLecavalier4... Oakmont. Greens will be fast but can't wait....

This sounds like a guy that is about to have a big payday. It looks like he's heading off to play for the New York Rangers. I stated before that if the Lightning make a serious play for Richards, he'd be more willing to go back to Tampa. However, it doesn't look like they are trying to get him just yet.

The Stars meanwhile, will have a lot of cap space to work with this offseason. With the departure of Richards and the growing floor on the cap, they will need to sign at least $10 million in contracts this year to reach the $48 million salary cap floor. The salary cap has been officially set at $64.3 million for this year. They have roster spots for about six more players.

GM Joe Nieuwendyk told NBC 5 yesterday that his aim was above the $48 million floor, so it looks like the Stars are willing to spend this year in order to get a good team going. Don't forget that this team still has yet to find an owner.

Some free agent names to keep an eye on this year:

• Thomas Kaberle BOS - Defenseman: Made $4.25 million last year
• Jussi Jokinen CAR - Forward: Made $1.9 million last year. Will the Stars bring him back?
• Tomas Kopecky CHI - Forward: Made $1.2 million last year.
• Tomas Fleischmann COL - Center: Made $2.6 million last year.
• Ville Leino PHI - Forward: Made $825,000 last year.
• Maxime Talbot PIT - Forward: Made $1.05 million last year.
• Brooks Laich WSH - Center: $2.4 million last year

In his press conference a week ago, Glen Gulutzan preached about the importance of defense and two-way forwards. The Dallas Stars gave Gulutzan the prospects he wanted in the 2011 NHL draft by taking three defensemen, two multi-dimensional wingers and one center. Here's a quick look at who the Stars drafted this year.

Round 1 Pick 14

Jamieson Oleksiak - Defenseman

Birth date: Dec. 21, 1992 (Currently 18 years old)

Birth place: Toronto, Ontario

Height/Weight: 6'7", 244 lbs

Since the departure of Derian Hatcher, the Stars have really lacked that big physical presence on defense. Dallas will be no longer be missing that now they have the tallest, heaviest prospect from the 2011 NHL Draft. 

He's said that he models his game after Zdeno Chara (quite understandable there) and if he can be anything like him, the Stars will be more than thrilled at how this pick turned out. Aside from his obvious advantages from his size, Oleksiak is a very good skater and moves the puck around very well. Whenever he makes it to the NHL, he can surely become a shutdown defender and will make up a good core with the other defensemen that the Stars have in their system.

He spent his last year playing at Northeastern University, where he had 13 points (4 goals, 9 assists) and led his team with a plus-13 rating in 38 games. He's still just 18-years-old so one would think he still has some growing to do. He certainly has the physical tools to play for the Stars next year, but will probably spend another year or two getting seasoning in college or in the Ontario Hockey League. one of the teams there, the Saginaw Spirits hold his rights and it might provide better competition for Oleksiak. 

The NHL released the 2011-2012 schedules for all teams today so I thought I'd just take a quick peek at who the Stars play month-by-month. The full schedule can be seen here.

October

• Dallas opens the season on Friday, Oct. 7 at home against the Chicago Blackhawks. You'll remember Chicago as the team that just beat the Stars for that final playoff spot this past season

• Their road opener is the very next night, Oct. 8 at Chicago as the second part of their home-and-home series.

• The Stars will play six games at home and five games on the road in October. 5 games will be against Pacific Division foes.

November

•  6 home games, 7 road games in November. 3 games this month will be against division foes.

• Dallas will play Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals for the only time this season on Nov. 8, unfortunately a road game.  

• Their next game on Nov. 11 will be at Pittsburgh, where Stars' fans will get their first look at the the new (healthy?) Sidney Crosby.

December

• 7 home games, 6 road games in December. 3 games against the Pacific Division.

• Tuesday, Dec. 13 could be a huge date for the Stars as they travel to New York to play the Rangers; a team that could be employing Brad Richards at that time.

• Dallas has one of their longest road trips in this month as they take a five game swing across the country. They start out Tuesday, Dec. 8 at San Jose before heading off to play Los Angeles, New York Rangers, New York Islanders and finish up Dec. 16 at the New Jersey Devils.

• The rematch of the year for Stars' fans could be on New Year's Eve as the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins travel into Dallas. As you might remember, the last time these two teams met, there were 3 fights in the first 4 seconds. By the time the game was over, Dallas had three players that would miss extended time due to injuries suffered during the fights or from taking huge hits.

It looks like the Dallas Stars will be getting younger in the coaching position. Reports surfaced, and then were subsequently confirmed, that Glen Gulutzan will be the next coach of the Dallas Stars. Gulutzan has spent the past two years as the head coach of the Texas Stars, the AHL affiliate to the Dallas Stars. With this hiring, Gulutzan will be the youngest head coach in the NHL, just edging Tampa Bay Lightning coach Guy Boucher by nine days. 

This is a solid hiring for the Stars as Gulutzan has been a winner pretty much his entire coaching career. He spent six years from 2003-2009 as the head coach for the ECHL's Las Vegas Wranglers and was one of the best coaches while he was there. His team was the first in ECHL history to have 3-straight 100 point seasons. He then spent two years with the Texas Stars, making the playoffs both years and making the Calder Cup Finals once although his team lost. He ended up with a 87-56-17 career record.